<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>What is Lost Can be Found by WatchAndSee</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802862">What is Lost Can be Found</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatchAndSee/pseuds/WatchAndSee'>WatchAndSee</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Reincarnation, Cross-Posted on Tumblr, Post-Canon, one shot? maybe maybe not, the boys moved on after caleb's stamp was removed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 07:56:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,427</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26802862</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WatchAndSee/pseuds/WatchAndSee</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Caleb's stamp was removed, and the boys moved on. No one really knows what happens to a ghost after they've completed their unfinished business. </p><p>Finn Ross just heard about a new band, Julie and the Phantoms. He can't help but feel like there's something familiar about them.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>113</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When the boys said that it hadn’t felt like it had been 25 years, they were right. It’s not uncommon for some souls to be reincarnated. What is uncommon, however, is for the souls caught in a ghostly limbo to become aware decades after the fact.</p><p>So for the boys, it actually has only been an hour or two since they died from contaminated hot dogs. They died, and then regained awareness in 2020. The show happens just as it did in canon, with the only difference being that the group hug freed the boys from the stamp but also allowed them to move on.</p><p>None of them knew what moving on entailed. Their last conscious thoughts were about how loved and accepted they felt in each others arms. They faded away feeling wanted and cherished by one another.</p><p>With a new purpose, their souls were released to the universe. </p><p>Cities away, a 17 year old obsessed with P!ATD sees fans talking about their latest show. He’s browsing twitter and is taken aback by a picture of the opening act.</p><p>He googles them. Julie and the Phantoms are good. Really good. But the weird thing is how similar he looks to the bassist. They’re like carbon copies of one another. And the music— the music seems so familiar, but he KNOWS that he’s never heard it before.</p><p>He doesn’t know why he feels so connected to this group, but he knows that he needs to find out more. Unfortunately, his research tells him that the lead singer of the group is Julie Molina, age 16, and that her band consists of three unnamed hologram members. Nothing more. </p><p>Something about that doesn’t seem right, but he doesn’t know why. It seems like he has the thrumming of a bass stuck in his head, playing to a tune that seems achingly familiar.</p><p>He can’t get the band out of his head, and finally he breaks down and sends a DM to the Julie and the Phantoms Instagram account.  </p><p>Flynn sees the message, and is hesitant to pass it along because Julie had just lost the band that had quickly become her family. After a couple of days and a lot scrolling through the boy’s social media accounts she decides to tell Julie.</p><p>Julie can’t get over how much the boy looks like Reggie. His socials tell her that his name is Finn, but the similarities between the two seem endless. She responds to the DM, and they agree to meet. </p><p>Finn drives to Los Angeles, and the two meet in a crowded coffee shop. Flynn sits a couple of tables over prepared to intervene if her girl needs any help. </p><p>Julie spots him immediately when he walks in the door. She rises from her seat as he approaches. In person, the resemblance is more than uncanny. She can’t stop the first word out of her mouth.</p><p>“Reggie?”</p><p>He looks confused, and ready to correct her before something clicks. He is Finn Ross, but he is also Reggie of Sunset Curve and Julie and the Phantoms. He remembers dying of hot dog poisoning, coming back as a ghost, and fighting to save his soul so that he and his brothers can play the show they never got to experience.</p><p>Everything and nothing makes sense. He feels like a part of himself that has been missing has been returned, but he is suddenly painfully aware that his best friends-- his brothers, aren’t there.</p><p>Looking at Julie, he says the first thing that comes to mind. “Are you sure you’re not a witch?”</p><p>For a second, Julie appears to be torn between laughing and crying. Then, she throws herself into his arms, sobbing in relief. </p><p>“I thought you all moved on! I thought I’d never see you again! But, but you’re here, and you’re human... How?”</p><p>Her guess is as good as his. Reggie thought that their hug after the Orpheum was it. Either everything would fade to black, or he and the boys would find themselves in the afterlife. But instead, it was 2020, he was human, and he had 17 years worth of memories as Finn Ross, high school senior. </p><p>“I don’t know! You said my name, and now it’s like there are two lives in my head. I remember playing the Orpheum, but I also remember that time I saw Taylor Swift in concert.</p><p>“Dead me didn’t know who Taylor Swift is! But if I’m here and I remember, that means Luke and Alex are somewhere, right?” He looks both hopeful and scared. </p><p>By now, Flynn has started making her way over to where Julie and Reggie stand. She chimes in, and it is obvious that she caught the end of the conversation. </p><p>“If you’re here not-so-dead-boy, the others probably are too. We’ll find them the same way you found us. The magic of the internet.” Grabbing Julie’s wrist, she pulls the duo towards the door. </p><p>“Lets head back to the studio and get started. Reggie, Finn, whatever your name is-- you can tell us everything you remember on the way.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Julie and Reggie work on a plan to find the other boys, with some success.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s not a long journey from the coffee shop to the Molina’s garage. Reggie starts his story as he drives, telling them about Finn’s family in San Diego, his love of Panic! at the Disco, and how the video of the Orpheum performance started to reawaken his memories from his previous life. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Once they arrive at the studio, the three begin to brainstorm how they could locate Luke and Alex. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m the age I was when I died, and I look the same. They should too, right?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julie and Flynn quickly agree, and they start to come up with a plan. “Reggie, you said that the video from our performance was what started to change things? But you didn’t remember until I called your name earlier?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Yeah Julie, I couldn’t get the video out of my head, and things seemed weird but I couldn’t figure out what was wrong. Then we met and it made sense. Sort of. I’m still </span>
  <em>
    <span>very </span>
  </em>
  <span>confused.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Flynn, who is sitting across from them, pulls out her phone. “I guess we need to get Julie and the Phantoms trending. If a video led you here, we need to make sure there’s no way they can avoid seeing you play.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>…………</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>It doesn’t have immediate results. Sure, the band’s view and follower counts rise, but there’s no sign of either of the boys. It’s disheartening, and they hate that their search efforts are limited due to school.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reggie lives over an hour away from Los Angeles, and can only meet with Julie and Flynn on the weekends. Julie has been posting performance clips and short videos of herself practicing on the band’s tiktok. Reggie has been working on growing his own following @jatp_bass.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He’s scrolling through his for you page one evening after school when he finds Alex entirely by accident. He watches the video on loop for a few minutes before sending it to Julie.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Less than a minute passes before his phone rings. “Patrick? Alex’s name is Patrick? Also, wow I knew he liked to dance from the whole Dirty Candy thing but he is </span>
  <em>
    <span>good.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Alex has always loved dance, it honestly doesn’t surprise me that this version of him would show off his moves online. I just don’t know what to do now that we’ve found him. Do I follow him? Duet him? Shoot him a message and hope for the best?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julie is silent for a long moment. ”What if we almost try the truth? Follow him, then send him a message asking him if he’s sure he doesn’t have a twin in the band. That should be enough to get his attention at least.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Reggie considers her suggestion before agreeing. Quickly pulling up the app on his phone, he does just that. “Here’s hoping it works, if we can get Alex back we just need to find Luke.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He drops his head into his hands and takes a couple of deep breaths before continuing. Quietly, he says “I don’t know what I’ll do if this doesn’t work. I have a good life now, and I’m so glad I remember you, but the boys were the only family I had for </span>
  <em>
    <span>years.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Julie wishes more than anything that this conversation was taking place in person. She desperately wanted to hug the boy that she had come to see as an older brother. “We’ll get them back Reg. I </span>
  <em>
    <span>promise</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Death couldn’t keep you guys apart, and life won’t either.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Eh, this isn't much but I guess it's something? Come talk JATP with me on tumblr @shine-together-bright-forever</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I may or may not continue this. Cross-posted on my tumblr @shine-together-bright-forever</p><p>As I was watching the show for the fourth time I decided to take the boys talking about coming to the future and run with it.</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>